1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to workflow management. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method, computer program product, and a system for automatically remotely loading a blank data processing system with an operating system, products, and services.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are several methods today for loading an operating system and applications onto a “blank” or clean data processing system. A blank data processing system is a data processing system that either has no operating system (OS) or software installed, or has some minimal amount of operating system and software installed that makes the data processing system operational, but not necessarily usable. A blank data processing system can be anything from a personal computer to a mainframe system.
The two most common methods to install software onto a blank data processing system is to install the software from a remote, connected source or to have a system image loaded onto the target data processing system from a local or remote drive, such as a compact disc or hard disc drive. A system image is a usable operating system and set of predefined software components that can be transferred from one storage media to another storage media that makes a data processing system usable without having to go through an installation process for each component contained on the system image. The system image is predefined and created, and contains the operating system, services, and any identified products that are to be included with the load of the system image, such as a word processor, network connectivity software, device drivers, databases, and so forth. The system image is copied from the remote storage to the local storage on the data processing system being loaded.
System images include the operating system, fixes, and software needed to get the data processing system operational. In most cases, system configuration work is done after loading the system image. System configuration means the setup of the operating system and software applications, such as, for example, choosing a language, setting the owner, setting passwords, and so forth, after the operating system and software applications have been installed on the data processing system. System configuration is not addressed in this disclosure.
This approach is very useful when loading several data processing systems to be deployed to a customer's site, or for a business partner or vendor that is setting up several data processing systems in their inventory to be identical. The data processing systems are all treated the same way and the loads are not customized for a specific data processing system or environment.
A problem exists in that this method does not work well for a single data processing system, or a small number of data processing systems, that requires a load of a customized system image. Customization is the loading of different applications, service, and so forth, on a data processing system making the data processing system unique to a particular order for a single data processing system. In general, system images loaded onto multiple data processing systems are identical for all of the data processing systems.
This approach does not work when additional products or services that are not included on the initial install system image are required. A customized install of the operating system, service, and products requires manual loading and configuring that is time consuming and expensive. Desktop data processing systems can be bulk pre-loaded, but “larger” data processing systems, such as a mainframe, typically need a more specific installation. Currently, no easy way to handle this exists. The process for loading customized system images onto data processing systems is either manual, inefficient, or both.
Another method for installing software on a blank data processing system allows the data processing system to boot itself, then do a network install from a deployment server. This can be customized to a single target data processing system, but can be very labor intensive, as an administrator needs to monitor what is installed. A network install can be automated, but that reduces the customization that can occur for any single data processing system.